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Dinner at The Cotton Duck

Chicago, IL

Tasted September 21, 2016 by acyso with 374 views

Flight 1 (10 notes)

White
2000 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru La Forest France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
90 points
The nose is demure on this bottle, but the palate is much better. At first there's a slight bit of reduction, which eases off into some sweet stone fruit. The palate doesn't show that character, and instead you get a nice crisp minerality balanced with juicy stone fruit. On the other hand, the acidity doesn't seem to be that racy here, and this doesn't quite have that crystalline Chablis character you might want, and the inorganics seem to veer more towards dirt rather than mineral.
White
2004 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Meursault 1er Cru Santenots France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
90 points
Moderately reduced at first, but it did blow off. This is a surprisingly round wine for the vintage. If anything, I'd guess based on the somewhat fleshy fruit profile and lower acidity that this is a wine that was picked just a little bit later in the season. Not that that's a bad thing; there's plenty of density to appreciate here; it's just that this doesn't have that racy green acidity that I've come to love so much in 2004s.
White
2011 Domaine Francois et Antoine Jobard Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
90 points
I think I ought to put Jobard on my watch list. This was bottle of chardonnay made much to my liking, with heaps of matchstick, sulphur, and a real firm backbone. While this didn't seem to unfurl at all the whole evening, it was clear that this is a very large-scaled wine, with plenty of racy acidity and that modern steely Meursault quality. You can pick out wisps of fruit here and there, but at this point, this is mostly an exercise in reductive chardonnay.
White
2009 Emrich-Schönleber Halenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs Germany, Nahe
93 points
#11-10, 13% abv. I think the ripe vintage plays well to the GG style here. I'll freely admit I was quite impressed by this wine; it's quite precise, despite that heavier frame, and still holds a fair bit of acidity to keep it balanced. It's certainly not one of those oppressive bottles of acid that aren't pleasant to drink. I love the pineapple and green herbs on this wine. But at the end of the day, I find myself wishing this had more sweetness and two-thirds the alcohol.
Red
2000 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
93 points
One of my two wines of the night (the other being a 97 di Sotto). This was singing right from the get-go, but it seemed to keep building up as the night went on, up until we drained the bottle. There's a very lovely perfumed red fruit nose, as well as a slight touch of earth. The palate is very much the same, but shows a nice ripeness to it, giving this a very full and broad texture.
Red
2013 Emmanuel Rouget Bourgogne France, Burgundy, Bourgogne
93 points
Apparently, in Chicago, Rouget just sits on supermarket shelves. So, I did what I had to do. A spectacular pinot from the get-go, this punches at a very, very high level indeed. There's a pronounced red fruit tone to this wine, which developed as the evening went on into a sweet strawberry expression. I loved the spice on this too -- a very, very complex wine that you might not expect from the lowly appellation on the label.
Red
1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
90 points
I've been on a Beaucastel kick lately, and I was extremely excited to try this, especially with the 1989 Hommage still reasonably fresh in my mind. While it's clearly a step down, this wine is still a very reasonable beverage. The nose shows a little bit more animale than I'd like, but there's also some really nice sweet red fruit under it. Again, one of those hold-your-nose-and-drink wines. The palate doesn't show any of that animale funk at all -- instead, it's pure red fruit, with a touch of sweetness and heat on the back end.
Red
1997 Fattoria Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
93 points
Along with a 2000 d'Angerville Ducs, this was one of two wines of the night for me. A brilliant nose here, with plenty of sweet red fruit. There's almost something pinot-like about the blend of red fruit and earth here. It's absolutely entrancing. The palate shows quite ripe, with a slight touch of sweetness, but there's some cooling acidity that becalms the exuberant fruit. And all at the same time, there's some lovely dirt making its way around.
Red
1999 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Cicala Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
85 points
I wasn't quite as taken by this bottle as others at the table. I found it a little bit disjointed, with some really advanced notes on the nose, just a slight touch of soy, some mushrooms, and a lot of earthy funk. Where's the pure red fruit? The florals? The palate came off a little muddy too, and if you'll excuse the synesthesia, this wine just tasted a little brown. Perhaps a bit tired?
1 person found this helpful Comments (1)
Red
2009 Paolo Bea Montefalco Sagrantino Secco Pagliaro Italy, Umbria, Montefalco, Montefalco Sagrantino
83 points
#5368. The wine says secco but the palate says otherwise. This was much too candied and sweet for my taste. A very confected nose with a little bit of cloying sweet roses and potpourri that I didn't particularly enjoy. The palate has lots and lots of fruit. Way too much, really, to the detriment of all else. It seems like you're just popping some sort of red candy in your mouth. Not my thing.
1 person found this helpful Comments (2)
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